01

Introduction
 Table of contents
01 03
Introduction Results and discussion

02 04
Conclusion
Materials
and methodology
 01
Introduction
 Terminologies
Frankia : Frankia is a genus of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in symbiosis with
actinorhizal plants.

Consortium: latin word; combination, or group (association)

Bioleaching: it is also known as microbial leaching is defined as the solubilization of

metals from insoluble solid substrates
 Instruments used in this research
1. SEM

A scanning electron
microscope (SEM) is a type of 
electron microscope that
XRD
produces images of a sample by It’s the closest planet to
scanning the surface with a the Sun and the smallest
focused beam of electrons. The in the Solar System
electrons interact with atoms in
the sample, producing various
signals. 

Fig 1: SEM instrument

source: britanniaca.com
 Instruments used in this research
2. AAS

Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) detects

elements in either liquid or solid samples
through the application of characteristic
wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation from
a light source. Individual elements will absorb
wavelengths differently, and these absorbances
are measured against standards.

Fig 2
source: wikipidea.com
 Instruments used in this research
3. XRD

X-ray diffraction is the

experimental science
determining the atomic and
XRD
molecular structure of a crystal, It’s the closest planet to
in which the crystalline structure the Sun and the smallest
causes a beam of incident X-rays in the Solar System
to diffract into many specific
directions.

Fig 3: XRD instrument

source: physicsfeed.com
 What’s the need?
● According to a report by the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) and the UN
E-waste Association, global e-waste generation is on track to reach 120–130 million tonnes by
2050 if not effectively managed.

● printed circuit boards (PCBs) is a major component of e-waste due to their short lifespan.

● with a total of 6.9 and 3.2 million tonnes of e-waste created, the United States and India were
the second and third-largest contributors in the global e-waste production, respectively

● Approximately 25%–30% of worldwide e-waste gets recycled each year, implying that 70–75
percent of ewaste is disposed of in landfills, burned, or improperly processed

● Bioleaching is a long-term extraction method that employs a collection of microorganisms to

transform hazardous substances into less toxic or non-toxic constituent elements while also
extracting high-value metals

Fig 4
source:
mathmatch.com
02 Material and
methodology
 Step 4
Step 5
SEM
Step 3
investigation of Leaching process Step 6
Acid digestion e-fine particles
morphology Explorations of pH
and biomass changes
Step 2
Frankia
consortium Step 7
organic acid
functional groups
Step 1
XRD and FT-IR
E waste spectrum
collection analysis
 1. E-waste collection

● The e-waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) were gathered from

an industrially polluted environment in Hosur, Tamil Nadu,
India.
● PCB board was made as fine particles with a size of (120μm).

2. Frankia consortium

● In the Frankia consortium, they isolated and identified two

strains of Frankia sp. and two strains Frankia casuarinae .
● We keep all of the Frankia isolates in a deep freeze in
the Bioprocess Technology Lab, Department of Microbiology,
Bharathidasan University, Trichy.

3. Acid digestion

● The e-fine particles were acid digested using 18 mL of newly Fig 5

prepared acids in a 1:2 ratio (6 mL HNO3 + 12 mL HCL) to Source:springer.com/article
eliminate any undesired plastic or debris.
 4. SEM investigation of e-fine particles morphology and metal elements composition

● The morphology arrangements of e-fine particles were validated using a scanning electron microscope
(SEM) (VEGA3 TESCAN Bruker, USA).
● Similarly X-ray Diffraction (XRD) spectrum analysis (Japan) to corroborate the high-value metal
element in the e-fine particles.

5. Leaching process for high-value metals

● Frankia consortium conducted a high-value metal element leaching experiment using two distinct
leaching procedures and varying concentrations of e-fine particles.
● various concentrations (0.2,0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 percent) of e-fine particles, were used in one-step
procedure.
● Then, the Frankia consortium was allowed to develop for 2–3 days before being added the same
concentration of e fine particles for bioleaching operations in the two-step procedure.
● After that, the Frankia consortium treated with e-fine particles in both phases was incubated at 28 ◦C for
25–30 days for 100% metal leaching.
6. Explorations of pH and biomass changes during the leaching process

• The pH and biomass variations were estimated at every 5 day interval during both steps
of the bioleaching process.
• A digital pH device was used to track the pH variations (Analab Scientific Instruments
Pvt.Ltd ,India ). The digital measurement instrument also estimated wet weight changes
in biomass variants throughout the trial.

7. Metal leaching and organic acid functional groups XRD and FT-IR spectrum
analysis

• The XRD spectrum also demonstrated the leaching of high-value metal elements
during the bioleaching process.
• Similar manner, the FT-IR spectrum analysis (Perkin Elmer, Spectrum TWO,
Llantrisant,UK) confirms the presence of organic acid functional groups during the
leaching process
03 Results and
discussion
1. Mechanism of Frankia consortium and e-fine particles leaching

● The Frankia consortium created by-products of secondary metabolites, phosphatase enzyme, and
organic acids.
● The growth of the Frankia consortium shows less turbidity at the e-fine particles pulp density of 0.2,
0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 percent in the one-step leaching process. It is due to a lack of Frankia
consortium by-products as well as the toxic effects of e-fine particles.
● The growth of the Frankia consortium in the two-step leaching method demonstrates a high level of
turbidity at above the same pulp density of e-fine particles. This is due to the earlier generation of
bacterial by-products.
● When compared to other available bioleaching approaches, the isolates of Frankia consortium were
able to tolerate the maximum level of e-waste toxicity.

2. Confirmation of changes in pH and biomass during metal leaching

● The pH decreased as the biomass value increased.

● pH and biomass profiles of the first day (pH 8.0,Biomass 0.5 g/L) were subsequently reduced and
the biomass concentrations increased on the final day of leaching trials (pH 7.3, Biomass 6.9 g/L).
● When compared to a one-step method, the two-step pH and
biomass profiles show the normal level at all concentrations of
e-fine particles treated trials.
● They conclude that the this method produces organic acids,
which is primarily responsible for the pH level decrease due to
the mass level of biomass production.

3. SEM-EDX analysis of bioleached structural and metal

element variations

● The Frankia consortium strongly interacted with e-waste high-

1 2 3
value metal elements, as confirmed by SEM interpretation.
Similarly, the EDX confirms the presence of significant metal
leaching. Fig 6: Shows the
● Because of the toxicity effect of e-fine particles, SEM interactions between
microphotographs of Frankia consortium morphology the Frankia
appeared wrinkled. consortium and e-
fine particles
 Fig7:
Microphotograhs of
Frankia consortium
and e-fine particle
interactions exposed
by SEM at various
magnifications (5,
10, 20, 50 μm).
4. Mechanism of Frankia consortium and e-fine particles leaching

● The Frankia consortium’s IR spectrum exposure interpretation supports the presence of high
concentrations of various organic acids functional groups such as citric, oxalic, and gluconic acid,
which were primarily responsible for the high-value metal element leaching from e-waste.

5. AAS spectrum evidence of high-value metal element leaching

● AAS spectrum analysis detected high-value metal elements leaching and control e-fine particles.
The unique light absorption capacity of each leaching and control metal revealed the initial and final
leaching concentration of high-valuemetal elements.

Metals Initial concentration Final concentration

mg/g mg/g

Au 0.04 0.11
Ag 0.04 0.09
Cu 0.12 0.17
Zn 0.10 0.15
 04
Conclusion
1. The AAS spectrum was used to determine the initial concentration of e-fine particle metal
elements and the escalating concentration of bioleaching high-value metal elements.

2. The SEM was used to verify the morphological configurations of e-fine particles that
facilitated for Frankia consortium interactions.

3. In comparison to control, the high-value metal gold (Au) is leached out by Frankia
consortium at a rate of almost 90%, followed by silver (Ag) at around 75%.

4. The Frankia consortium’s gathered products of high-value metal elements revival from e-
fine particles of e-waste establish a potential to extract out materials valuable to mankind.

5. This method also helps to control e-waste contamination in the environment by recovering
and reusing PCBs.
 THANK YOU !
Bio degradable PCBs can be another
environment friendly approach.